Admittedly, with the latter I could be recommending some complete shit, but it'sfree shit. And every likes free shit, right?
So here's a selection. Go on, get your fix, load your [insert e-reader device here] up with yet another book you won't get around to reading. Oh and if you do, let me know if I put you wrong (or not) with the unfamiliar ones, okay?
First up: Kealan Patrick Burke, an author you should be familiar with - because he is good, very good - has a couple available:
The Turtle Boy
School is out; summer has begun. For 11-year old Timmy Quinn, it is a time of magic and discovery. But on the day he encounters a strange boy on the bank of Myers pond, everything changes. For it soon becomes clear that dark secrets abound in Timmy's little community, secrets that come cupped in the hands of the dead, and in a heartbeat, summer becomes a season of terror, betrayal, and murder.
This novella won the Bram Stoker award in 2004. Read it and then buy its sequels. An ebook that conveniently collects up the whole lot, Stage Whispers: The Collected Timmy Quinn Stories, can be bought here for the princely sum of $4.99.
For Dean, it begins with a dare, one that comes with the threat of violence if he chickens out. All he has to do is date Stephanie Watts, a disfigured girl who is the pariah at their high school. Dean agrees, and soon discovers that there is much more to Stephanie Watts than anyone dared imagine, and deadlier secrets awaiting him...underneath.
An excellent short story with a nice twist. Get it here. The good news is that there are a whole heap of other affordable stories by Burke, available from Smashwords and other ebook outlets. And all pretty darn good.
Next up are a couple of books from Grindhouse Press. I know little about them, other than that they seem to have some pretty f-ed up sounding releases. These books sound entertaining, at the very least.
Vampires in Devil Town by Wayne Hixon
One evening Rachel Stokes is yanked from her bed and dragged into a black van by two young abductors. They refer to her as a chosen sacrifice and her mind races, wondering where they might be taking her. She thinks she knows. There’s a house located in a hollow of rural Lynchville. It’s called the Sad House, a place of legend. Rumors say it appears and disappears. Even worse than the house are the people who live in it. They could be vampires. They could just be ghosts with teeth. They’ve come after Rachel before and she narrowly escaped. And now they've come back to finish what they started in this horrifying and suspenseful novel by first time author Wayne Hixon.
At just under 80000 words, this is a full size novel Get it here.
The papers call it “The Suicide Virus.” The teenagers of Gethsemane, Ohio, are killing themselves at an alarming rate.
Steven Wrigley is trying to survive his senior year of high school, still reeling from the death of his mother and adjusting to life with his father. Along the way, he meets a girl who becomes another kind of obsession: Elise Devon.
Elise’s secrets keep her distanced from everyone. She has a special place she calls the Obscura. She goes there when she is depressed or angry. The Obscura makes her feel like nothing she’s ever felt before. When she loses herself to the Obscura, she fears she also gives herself to something much darker, something much more powerful. Something calling itself the Sorrow King...
This is also a novel (get it here), and Prunty has a number of other novels and novellas available. Interestingly, one of them is called "Fuckness". Hmmm.
Next up are a couple of short collections from Aaron Polson. I've been aware of Aaron for quite a while now, but have yet to read one of his books. Naughty me.
A collection of ten dark stories from Horror Writers Association member Aaron Polson. Witness hotels with shifting rooms...carnivorous beetles bent on devouring a sleepy mountain town...vindictive spirits with beautiful eyes...an undead Marine on his return from Iraq...a pond full of restless dead in the title story, and more.
This collection has been expanded upon in The Bottom Feeders and Other Stories Bonus Edition (99c !!!), which adds four stories and 10000 words to the original 30000 word collection.
Violent Bits: A Horror Sampler
A sampler of three dark stories with visceral bite taken from Violent Ends: Horror Stories.
At only around 3000 words, this is a considerably less substantial collection. Then again,as its title says, it is only a "sampler". Also, bits. Violent Bits vs Violent Ends. Clever.
Get this one here, or fork out the massive sum of 99c (99c !!!) for the much larger Violent Ends here.
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